Cowboy and Partner
by TheDiamondTyrant
Summary: Jesse McCree remembers while waiting to catch a train.


**Cowboy and Partner**

 **AN:** Well here's another one. While you may not like it, I had fun writing this, so enjoy!

This pairing just took my heart and protected it with only a couple words. "Cowboy" and "Partner"

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Overwatch or any of its characters, I'm just writing my story in their world.

* * *

He was young, and he could admit dumb, but the smartest thing McCree thought he ever did was set Echo free. Sure, it may have caused the ruin of Deadlock, but he could tell himself the world was better without them around. His eyes flicked to the clock ticking on the wall, still plenty of time before the train would arrive. The dinner wasn't full of people, a waitress and a cook moving in the back as a few elderly patrons sat and ate their lunch. His hat was drawn down, casting his face in shadows. When the door chimed, everyone looked up at him and he could feel them tense. Not many people on Route 66 didn't know who he was and today he would use his bounty to his advantage once more. All he had to do was moved his hand toward his holster and the diner emptied faster than a cat lapping chain lightning. When they left, he took his hat and gun belt off and sat them on the post of a booth before taking a slice of pie and a cup of coffee. The clock ticking all the while, with nothing but his memories to keep him company.

8 8 8

The heist had gone off without a hitch, and he was all to happy to mention to anyone how his shooting was what saved the day once again. He was good and let everyone know it. No one would doubt Jesse McCree or his abilities. The train had been speeding across the tracks when they blew it up. It was supposed to be a simple cash grab and yet there was something special aboard the train that would change his life. It was a crate, white in color and with the Overwatch logo printed on it in all its official glory. He and Ashe had divided their spoils and the crate was locked into a warehouse on their gangs' property, with one rule, no one touch it until they found a buyer. It didn't matter what it was, the Overwatch logo would fetch a nice price tag from any of their contacts.

Yet, he couldn't leave it alone, his curiosity burned up within him and while the rest of the gang were passed out drunk, he snuck off to the warehouse. The crate was sitting there snugly situated between two stacks of brown boxes, the white of the crate a wonderful contrast in the dead of night. He wasn't sure how it happened but as he poked and prodded at the crate it opened and inside was an omnic, and one unlike Bob. This one was pure white and when he tried to close the crate it turned on. He lurched backwards as the machine stood and its face blinked to life, before that face turned toward him.

"Cowboy." The voice was feminine and held an amount of surprise.

Too say he was surprised would be an understatement and so he blurted the first thing that came to mind to her accusation.

"Partner."

That is how Jesse met Echo, an AI meant for Overwatch.

8 8 8

The memory had him smiling in the empty diner, the clock still ticking along, counting down toward the train's arrival. A sip of coffee and a bite of the pie were all he got down before the memories came upon him once more.

8 8 8

She was as sassy as a cat in a rain storm, and had a curiosity that had her walking, floating, around the warehouse. She was interesting for the young man. He had, of course, seen omnics before, but this wasn't your run of the mill omnic, and even as sophisticated as Bob was, she blew them all out of the water.

"You're not part of Overwatch, cowboy."

"No, I'm not, partner."

That was what they had established each other as. They were the first words either had said to each other. Now days after he released her, it had become their thing, and the longer the time they talked the more the pit in Jesse's stomach grew. She was good, a drink of water for a thirsty man, and he had heard Ashe talking to one of their contacts. He couldn't let her be sold. Not now. Not when he had discovered her personality so refreshing from the tough men and women of his gang.

Ashe had discovered her one night when Jesse snuck off too early to not be noticed. She had chewed him out something fierce and had demanded no one touch the omnic as the buyer would be there within the week. Now Jesse was no yellow-bellied turn coat, but he could taste a change coming and Echo, his partner, was the catalyst.

He and Ashe had been at odds for just shy of a year now, different ideas in how the gang should move, how they should act. Really, he grew up with these people but the more his shots killed men and women, good honest men and women, his soul shook. The gang had called him a coward and he had shot the one who insinuated it. He shot him in the forehead his body falling quickly to the floor, dead before he could draw. No one questioned him after that, but he could see the way the gang mustered behind Ashe. He could see the way her eyes gleamed during a job. He could see his own sway being dwindled. Jesse McCree was losing his share in the gang and he wasn't as bothered by it as he could have been. He had given his blood, sweat, and tears to the gang and now the were slowing turning their back on him. When no one stood beside him when he threw out the idea, they should keep Echo, his decision was made, right then and right there. So, when the gang was going to bring the buyer to the pick-up location, McCree offered to take the ai, and no one batted an eye. Deadlock was done with him and he, in turn, was done with Deadlock.

It was as simple as asking Echo to turn on her tracker and then waiting. Echo had informed him she had kept it off while snooping around the gangs hide out when everyone was asleep, taking evidence, and had merely kept the evidence to herself for the kindness he showed her. Sadly, he would have to show her just who Jesse McCree was, a killer, and a damn good one at that. When his people showed up, he stood in front of them, hat pulled low, stance tense hands loose and ready by his sides.

"Step aside, McCree." Ashe's voice was confidant and he couldn't blame her, she had the gang on her side, but he had an ace up his sleeve, a card unknown to anyone at the location.

"No can do, Ashe." The cigar in his mouth was a comfortable feeling as he spoke slowly, his eyes slowly drifting across the men and women in front of him.

"Ya sure you want to do this Jesse? Risk all we've worked for just for a stupid robot?" Her hand was slowly inching its way toward the repeater on her back.

"Ya see Ashe, I can't let y'all take my partner. Not without a fight"

Then all Hell broke loose.

There were explosions and smoke bombs going off in an instant, and McCree fired off shots quickly, his shots meant to disable what body parts he could make out. He moved backwards as he fired, letting the cigar fall from his lips and pulled his bandanna up to stop the smoke from getting in his lungs. He crouched behind Echo's crate, firing off shot after shot at anything he thought might be a threat. There was the crack of Ashe's rifle followed by the blast of a shotgun. He killed people, easily, some member of the gang, some of what he assumed was Overwatch. He'd play his part and if he was lucky, he would go out in a blaze of glory, his partner rescued.

He felt it sooner than he usually did, a testament to how many lives he took in the past minutes. The burning deep within his chest, his ace in the hole, and the sun was high in the sky. The burning became more intense the longer he held off on using it to unleash death one bullet at a time. A flashbang went out and a roll out of cover had the burning unleash. He could see them all even through the smoke from the fires and the bombs. His justice was unbiased and soon six shots rang out and all was quiet before his world turned into nothing but screaming pain as someone shot him in the back.

8 8 8

He knew he was in an interrogation room before he opened his eyes. The cool feeling of metal on his wrists was a familiar feeling by this point and he wondered why he was alive in the first place. He was certain death was calling for him as his blood pooled in the desert, yet he was alive and when opened his eyes the Overwatch logo was staring back at him. He cursed under a morbid laugh. Just his luck to be caught by the people he had been trying to help, however backwards his way to help was. Then his mind shifted gears, and his thoughts quickly sped toward where his partner was. Was that why he was alive? Did they lose her and needed him to find her? The AI was special to him though he wasn't certain why. She caught his attention with one word, and well if he thought she was pretty no one needed to know that. She had called him Cowboy while they talked.

The door to the room opened slowly, and in stepped a man with dark features and dark eyes that seemed to pierce into his soul. Still he wouldn't show the fear he held in his mind, and instead smirked at his interrogator.

"Howdy." He made sure to put all the fake enthusiasm he felt into his voice, his grin never falling even as the man refused to reply. That was fine with Jesse, he was called a smooth talker for a reason.

"So, why am I here? Are you gonna kill me and make it look like a suicide? Or are ya gonna just stare at me until looks can kill?" Still no reply so he kept talking, saying nonsense. "Well I guess it's option three, well let me tell ya hoss, you got one hell of an ugly face. Let me out of these cuffs though and I'll make ya look all pretty like."

As his face bounced off the metal table and he felt blood drip from his busted lip he admitted maybe he took it a little too far. He glanced around taking in his surroundings and noticed the blinking red light of the camera in the corner was no longer blinking. His mind connected the dots easily enough, their conversation wasn't official.

"I didn't think you Overwatch types would rough up a prisoner, but hell since that light ain't blinking anymore I figure we ain't actually talking to each other."

That observation got a quick nod from the silent man, and Jesse could admit without revealing his plan he was running out of things to talk about. So, he did the next best thing and started bouncing the heel of his boot on the concrete floor, his spur jingling loudly in the silence of the room. His grin grew as he watched the man open the folder he had carried in with him. In it were photos of many of the gang's activities and many photos featured him, and the grin fell off his face. Okay he knew what this was about, and he was pretty sure he'd either be rotting in a cell or in a ditch dead by sundown.

"Jesse McCree, age 17, Co-Leader of the Deadlock Gang of Route 66." The man recited his information to him in a gruff voice that sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

"I get it hoss. I get it. Way I see it I got two choices, jail cell or dead in a ditch. Why don't we cut this shit and you really tell me why I'm alive?"

"You're a smart kid, and I like smart people. We're not talking as far as anyone, officially, is concerned. You're not only smart but you killed some good men and women yesterday along with some bad men and women. All for what? We watched you stand off before we intervened. What was so important that you betrayed your people?"

Jesse McCree was not stupid, maybe not as smart as some people in the world but he was sharp enough to know the man in front of him held all the cards and he could either play his game or he could die.

"I got one hell of a feeling you already know why I did." No jokes, no nicknames, Jesse McCree had a poker face that would confuse the devil himself, he had lost the game before it started. "Just one thing I want to know before you put a bullet in my head. Did you rescue my partner?"

That question seemed to shock the man, if his eyebrows raising a fraction were any indication.

"Your Partner?"

"Yeah, she was in that crate I was hiding behind. About as tall as me and floating. White coloring with a blue face? Sassy as a cat in a rain storm? Any of this ringing any bells hoss?"

The man had the audacity to laugh in his face, and that was when Jesse felt anger building in his chest, similar to the burning that he channeled into death. Before he knew it, his head came forward and caught the laughing man in the nose, blood flying from it. All the while the man never stopped laughing and McCree started cussing him, calling him things that would make a sailor blush.

When the man finally pulled himself upright, blood flowing down his face, he stopped laughing and instead smiled. It reminded Jesse of a shark he had seen in an old holo-vid when he was a kid.

"Kid, I'm only going to offer this once. Take the deal, join my team, and I'll tell you all about your partner. Or don't and rot in prison so long that your name will be lost to time, before you're buried in an unmarked grave."

He knew his answer before he was asked the question and he was certain he had Deadlock members in this prison and he would never make it a day in there. So, he bowed his head before he nodded, taking the deal.

That was how Jesse McCree joined Overwatch, under the command of Gabriel Reyes.

8 8 8

The clock ticked on and the pie was gone, so he helped himself to another slice, all the while time slipped by as his memories played before him.

8 8 8

She was fine, she was safe, and he couldn't help the sigh of relief that washed over him, though he wasn't certain why he cared so much. Though if he blushed like a shy boy being asked to dance by the prom queen when she hugged him, well know one needed to know that.

The tests and training Reyes put him through had him struggling to keep up but whenever he looked around, he always saw a familiar blue faced AI who encouraged him. Jesse felt indebted to her, Echo, his partner. Reyes had let it slip that she was the reason he wasn't rotting in prison when awoke. She had saved his life, the life of a man who had killed more men than most soldiers. Really, he was worthless when compared to the heroes of Overwatch yet he pushed himself for her, for reasons unknown to him. He had heard Commander Morrison argue with Reyes about his place in their organization and when he raised his voice at Echo, he had almost stormed into the room, but he was held in his place when her soft voice refuted Morrison with her logic.

"He saved my life Commander Morrison, and I inturn saved his, he calls me partner, and from my research partners help each other."

Damn everyone else, he would prove his partners trust was not misplaced.

Blackwatch. He was officially a part of Overwatch but Reyes lead a smaller team, one of people like him. People who could get in an out and lay the blame at someone else's feet. Reyes pushed him hard and he took the abuse and punishment. He spent many of his days off improving his skills, he would prove himself to them all. No one would doubt Jesse McCree.

8 8 8

"You're working the boy too hard Gabe. He's just a kid." Jack complained as he sipped his whiskey, looking across at his old-time friend.

"That boy don't listen to anyone outside of missions, I'm not the one who put him up to it. That's all him." Gabe's voice was gruff but there was an amount of pride in it.

They watched the screen for a bit longer, watching as the boy ran the course again and again, gun firing as accurate as ever, but still the vitals of the boy were erratic at best. What Gabe had said was true, the boy didn't seem to listen to anyone when it wasn't in an official capacity, and Morrison could tell what kind of asset the kid would be if he just slowed down to rest every once in a while. The irony that those were his thoughts were not lost on him, but he was enhanced by questionable means, and this kid, with seemingly no special abilities could out shoot them all on his worst day.

"He doesn't even have any special abilities but he'd damn good."

"You're wrong, Jack. He's got something he plays close to the chest. I watched him mow down six people in the blink of an eye and I swear his eyes glowed red when he did it, but as soon as it happened it was gone, and I subdued him. I've not seen it since, but if I wasn't behind him when he emerged from cover, I'm not sure I would be alive."

This was news to Morrison and he filed the information away for later contemplation, and once more silence reigned while they watched the kid once more run the course. They would need to change it because the kid seemed like he could run it blindfolded, so many times had he ran it. It was muscle memory to him. Gabe had ordered the boy to stop for the day and that was hours ago but the boy simple appeared back in there an hour later after everyone else would be gone.

"He's something else Gabe, if you ain't careful he'll replace you soon enough." He tried to joke but Gabe's glower was still in place watching the screen.

Just then a familiar form appeared at the start of the course as the kid arrived to run it again. Echo was gesturing around the room then at Jesse's sweat soaked body. Jack laughed when the AI grabbed Jesse's ear and pulled him out of the range. Knowing he had found someone who the kid would listen too, and an idea formed in his mind.

8 8 8

They were the best team Blackwatch had and their track record proved it. The hadn't failed one mission, and their trend seemed to continue as the months passed and turned into years. Overwatch was a force of good and Jesse admitted to himself he had fallen head over heels for his AI partner. Yet he never made a mention of it, their friendship was precious to him, he couldn't risk it, no matter what. They went on missions and spent all their free time together, and really anyone looking from the outside would assume the attraction was mutual.

Jesse fell for her wit and sass, the way she dragged his ass out of the fire when he danced to close to the edge. Really Jesse McCree fell for Echo for Echo. The winds of change were blowing though, and McCree could smell the gasoline that was about to blow up in their face. He kept his thought hidden from all of them, even Echo, though she found out eventually. No one else could read Jesse McCree like an open book like his partner. Yet AI's were being disbanded of use in Overwatch and that even meant Echo, as advanced as she was. When Reyes gave him the command to turn her over, he nearly shot his commander, and it took Genji, Rein, and a soft talking Ana to hold him back as his love was marched off to be put offline. He was injected by Ana when he broke free, his spurs barely making a sound before he unconscious on the floor of his own room.

When he awoke, he was strapped to a medical bed, his throat soon hurt from his screams and curses and when his eyelids dropped from the IV drip he fought it as best he could but he was no match for the sleeping agent in the bag.

He thought he was ready, he really did, but when he went back into the field everything went wrong and it shouldn't have. Gabe and Jack were arguing more and more, and Jesse could smell the smoke of a match above the powder keg. Yet his first mission without Echo was a failure. His first failure as a member of Blackwatch and it cost him left arm. Fromm the elbow down he had nothing, just a stump. He had been stupid, expecting Echo to alert him of an enemy he should have seen as he sneaked through the shadows of a warehouse. Instead he was blown up along with the warehouse and while Angela had said he had been lucky to escape with just an arm missing he felt incomplete. The deactivation of Echo was the first step and his failure was the last step. Overwatch was about to explode, and he wasn't going to be around when it did.

He told no one of his plans to depart, simply leaving a note on the pillow of his bed, a simple goodbye. The fact that he stole parts for his new arm and more importantly a very important chip was not worth telling them about.

8 8 8

The train arrived exactly on time, and the bridge blew up exactly as it was supposed to. He shook himself from his memories as the song from the jukebox drifted in the quiet. His hat and gun belt were on in a moment, a single gold coin landed beside his dishes and Jesse McCree walked out of the diner, spurs jingling to announce his presence.

The fight wasn't really a fight, he was too good for them to beat, no matter how long it had been. Ashe had never been able to best him in a fight before, and now with years of experience under his belt, she truly stood no chance against him. He wanted what was in the crate and if he had to kill the last leader of Deadlock to do it he would without a second thought.

When the blue face he saw every night in his dreams blinked to life in front of him his breath caught in his chest. The air was stolen from his lungs as she smiled at him, looking as lovely as he remembered.

"Hey there, Cowboy."

"Welcome back, Partner."

* * *

 **AN:** Well there it is! Please review, constructive criticisms are also welcomed as are just general comments. So, don't feel afraid to comment I usually reply to everyone! As usual, thank y'all for reading.

Credit for some of the ideas featured in this story go to the McEcho Discord.

So, I have never written in this fandom before, though I have many pairings I enjoy from it. Yet with the "Reunion" short just being released I got two more! I just had to do something with McEcho though, because it was right up my ally, I mean this pairing is too pure for me man.

I'm not too familiar with Overwatch lore, though I do have pairings for it and play the game occasionally. That being said, I really hope I made this believable enough and that y'all enjoyed it as much as I had fun making it. Who knows maybe I'll do a part 2 if it's requested.

I hope I did all the character justice and kept them in character as best as the situations allowed. Not a lot of story has been released for this game and well it's easy to get OOC when there isn't much to go one.

I hope y'all liked my first adventure into Overwatch, and if you did maybe I'll do another one, I do have a couple more pairings I'd like to give my attention to after all.


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